barelyadverb
uk/ˈbeə.li/us/ˈber.li/B2 by the smallest amount:
They have barely enough (= no more than what is needed) to pay the rent this month.
She was barely (= only just) 15 when she won her first championship.
More examples
- The writing on the tombstone was barely visible.
- His wages are barely enough to keep body and soul together.
- After paying for our travel costs, we barely broke even.
- The council's provision for the elderly is barely adequate.
- There was a barely perceptible movement in his right arm.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Merely and barely
- all
- all of sth idiom
- at a pinch idiom
- but
- by a whisker idiom
- by inches idiom
- hardly
- ill
- inch
- mere
- merest
- narrowly
- nothing
- nothing more than idiom
- only
- pinch
- scarce
- scarcely
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